Why Our Files are Free

You might be wondering: why do you post all of your print plans for free? ​

Well, first of all, I--or rather, Joseph--really does post all of the design files for the products we make on Thingiverse. You can download and personally print anything we make at Good and Basic on your printer at home. (The files are listed under a creative commons non-commercial license.) Yes, you'll need your own maker space or machine--we use Ender Creality 3--and your own filament. We gravitate towards Hatchbox in blue, red, bronze, and silver. But that's it. That's the cost on your end. (If you'd like to know more about the print process, we posted some instructions here.)

While we enjoy running the Good and Basic shop, we enjoy even more hearing stories about people who develop their own skills and capabilities in fiber production. We are deeply inspired by your pictures, messages, and success stories. 

We've all heard the old proverb about teaching a man to fish, right? Well, the goal at Good and Basic Manufacturing is to distribute fishing poles or the means to make them to as many fishers as ask. 

It all started a few years ago, while I was hugely pregnant, and Joseph and I had "dates" at home instead of dragging my sore feet around town. He read out loud to me, and one of the books he read was Through the Eye of a Needle, a memoir by John Paul Flintoff. (Joseph interviewed him on the YouTube channel. It was a huge fan moment.) We also read Beautiful Corn, a nonfiction reference/memoir by Anthony Boutard. (Who, incidentally, Joseph also interviewed on the channel. We've been very lucky.) In conjunction with books like E.F. Schumacher's Small Is Beautiful and Ralph Borsodi's Flight from the City (whose authors are dead, or Joseph would have interviewed them), we started thinking about having the right tools at the right time and in the right place. We watched the documentary Billions in Change and wondered what we could do to contribute. 

Now, one pair of 3D-printed wool combs might not save the world, unless Brad Pitt throws them at a zombie rush. But, one pair of wool combs can help someone to develop an important set of skills--skills linked to providing for basic wants and needs. And, person by person, even if it's just fifty people over a lifetime, is still enough to make a little part of the world brighter. 
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So, all of the plans--the spinning wheel, the charkha, the wool combs, and the hackle--are free to anyone who wants them. Because we know not everyone has access to printing technology, we also provide these products in our shop. Hopefully, one set at a time, we'll see more people interested in making their own things in the future.